The Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee sent the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement out of committee on a 16-4 vote, and the Budget Committee moved the implementing bill with a voice vote, though several senators voted no there, as well.
Final FIRRMA Regulations Address Commenter Concerns, Omit Clearer Definition for Critical Technology
The Treasury Department’s final regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act made several changes to the proposed rules based on public comments and provided more clarity about FIRRMA’s “excepted foreign states” concept. But Treasury did not provide a more specific definition for “critical technologies” despite several requests from industry.
The Commerce Department should make clear who involved in the import process might be subject to the proposed procedures for how to review transactions that involve information and communications technology and services (ICTS) and are seen as a potential threat, the Express Association of America said in comments. The Commerce proposal is meant as a way for the government to oversee transactions, including importations, seen as risky (see 1911260032). Comments on the proposal were due Jan. 10 and were posted in Commerce docket 2019-0005.
The Treasury Department released final regulations for the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 on Jan. 13, along with a fact sheet and a set of frequently asked questions. The regulations, which will take effect Feb. 13, grant expanded authorities to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. Treasury said the final regulations made several changes to the agency’s proposed regulations, released in September (see 1909180018), including defining additional terms and introducing an interim rule for a new definition of “principal place of business.”
Recently Released Export Control Signals BIS Intent to Narrowly Control Emerging Tech, Law Firms Say
The Commerce Department’s narrow set of controls on exports of geospatial imagery software issued earlier this month (see 2001030024) could foreshadow a more “targeted and restrained approach” in the agency’s emerging technology effort, according to a Jan. 8 post from Paul Hastings. By limiting the controls to software that is only “specially designed” for specific purposes, such as “training a neural network to analyze geospatial imagery,” Commerce is signaling its intention to impose controls that only capture small slivers of technology, the post said. “The move might signal an inclination by [the Bureau of Industry and Security] to take a careful approach to regulating [artificial intelligence] and other emerging technologies.”
After the Senate Parliamentarian ruled that six other committees besides Finance need to consider the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, five of those committees have scheduled hearings or meetings to deal with the implementing bill next week. The Budget and the Environment committees will take it up Jan. 14; the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Commerce committees will take it up Jan. 15; and the Foreign Relations Committee will take it up Jan. 16. If the Appropriations Committee were to also have a hearing next week, a vote could come the following week, but Appropriations has not scheduled a hearing.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he's been told it's going to take three or four days for six other Senate committees to clear the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement so that it can go to the floor for a vote. Whether it can come up the week of Jan. 21 will depend on whether the articles of impeachment have arrived by then, he noted.
The United Nations Security Council Committee removed 15 Iraq-related entities from its sanctions list, the committee said in a Jan. 2 notice. The entities include state-operated chemical, steel, agricultural and engineering entities.
The Senate Finance Committee has recommended the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement come up for a vote in the Senate as a whole, voting 25-3 Jan. 7 to advance the deal. Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told reporters that the USMCA implementing bill also has to get buy-in from the Budget, Environment and Commerce committees, though they don't have to hold mark-up hearings, as the Finance Committee did. He predicted that if the articles of impeachment aren't sent over to the Senate yet, “by next week, for sure,” there would be a floor vote, but if the articles arrive, he said, it could be the end of January before a vote.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Dec. 23-27 in case you missed them.